Growth in Shipments Spurs Hiring in Elkhart Co.

The RV industry is seeing a rise in shipments yet again and businesses in Indiana’s Elkhart County – and their thousands of employees – aren’t minding one bit.

WNDU, South Bend, reported that according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), wholesale shipments to retailers rose more than 18% last month, making it the best September in six years.

“Since 2008, obviously it’s been a slow recovery,” said Jeff Runels, vice president of sales at Keystone RV Co. in Goshen. “But we’ve seen consistently things get a little bit better and so again that has to do with consumer confidence. Every year that you see the industry rise and get better, people are getting confident.”

It could also be a good sign for job seekers in the area, according to the Goshen Chamber of Commerce.

“Many [companies] are looking for employees and personnel, and companies in the Goshen area are hiring hundreds of more people to build RVs,” said Rod Rowe. “It affects the whole community, the whole county and the whole region. Employees are coming from several counties into Elkhart County to work.”

There were more than 3,000 units sold last month than in September 2012, and shipments are up 12% for the first nine months, according to the RVIA.

“We had anticipated this year would be up slightly, but we didn’t anticipate it was going to be as up as it has been,” Runels said.